(Photo: Pro Football Network)
5. Josh Allen– Numbers 10-6 are officially in the books and now, we can continue to get back to business. It’s time to kick off the top five! So far, Two EDGE rushers, a Cornerback, Wide Receiver and Running Back have been revealed. Everybody wrote the Buffalo Bills off after they traded away Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans and Gabe Davis left to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The New York Jets were hyped up with Aaron Rodgers and the Miami Dolphins have Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill. I had to side eye people and say hold on one second because the Bills will always be in contention because of one guy, the Quarterback and as long as he is there, they will win football games. Welcome back Josh Allen. You are the first Quarterback revealed so far and you have officially jumpstarted the second half of the list. He claims my fifth spot and is my third-ranked Quarterback entering the upcoming season.
The same thing I’ve said about Derrick Henry being as big as some defensive players can also be applied to Josh Allen as he is the same size of some EDGE guys, but has such a unique ability to make plays with his feet and he never gives up on a play whatsoeve and a guy of that caliber will always present some challenges. Josh can make plays in any type of way whether it’s from the pocket, using the moving pocket to extend the play, or he takes it himself and uses his feet for extra yards and I’ve been saying for years he’s a more athletic Ben Roethlisberger with a stronger arm and he’s quicker than Ben was at any point of his career. I can also see a little Cam Newton in his game. As a passer, Josh has one of the strongest arms in the league and will attack you with pinpoint accuracy and he’s so athletic with the ability to fit the pass into the tightest of windows, even while on the run. When Josh is on his game, it can be a nightmare for defenses because he will attack you with his arm and legs as he is a true dual threat Quarterback and he’s been blessed with the ability to be mobile. Also, when he has time to throw the ball, he can stand tall in that pocket and fire away. I can consider Josh to be the jack of all trades as he can beat you from the pocket, beat you with his feet, has a cannon of an arm and he’s big enough to take the contact from a defender. For years, he’s always played with the backyard mentality, just as Roethlisberger did which makes the comparison more accurate to me. When he runs with the ball, he will run through someone and you don’t see many Quarterbacks with that mentality these days and I’ve even seen him jump over guys which takes me to his first career start in 2018 against the Minnesota Vikings when he hurdled over a defender. Talk about a guy that puts it on the line day in and day out.
There are a few things that stand out to me from his 2024 season. First, he beat the Chiefs who were undefeated at the time of their matchup last November and in December, he helped lead the Bills to a victory over the Detroit Lions which means he had victories over both leaders of their conferences. There was another game in a losing effort against the Los Angeles Rams where he accounted for six total touchdowns and I also think of the Sunday night game against the San Francisco 49ers when he became the first player ever to have a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown all in the same game. To me, his best moment came in the divisional round of the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens and he didn’t look explosive passing as he managed the game, connected on throws and scored two rushing touchdowns. Nobody was more valuable to their team in 2024 than Josh Allen and the Bills don’t make the postseason, let alone win the AFC East without him.
